Dr. Johnson Asiama – Governor of Bank of Ghana
A strong Cedi against the Dollar is something all Ghanaians should cherish, especially when this would translate into reduced cost of commodities and services in the country.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case; the product of propaganda and unproductive interference from the apex bank.
For the second time though, Bretton Woods Institutions have had cause to caution us about manipulating the fiscal order of things. In other words, government is pumping in Dollars to ensure stability of the Cedi, which in their estimation should not be the case.
Were this sustainable and not injurious to the Cedi in the long run, we could have shrugged off these cautions which have been issued twice in the past few months.
The second caution was issued last week, an indication that the authorities at the Bank of Ghana have not heeded the caution.
We recall how under a previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government the country suffered a fine by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for cooking up figures.
The implication of a non-adherence to the caution from the World Bank can cause a possible denial for future concessions when we go knocking on the door of the IMF or the World Bank. Is that what we are craving for? Certainly not. So why don’t we allow the natural flow of things so we can tell the real strength of the Cedi as opposed to this artificial arrangement which only leads to a false sense of success. In any case, what is the sense in posting such exchange rates when the Dollar can only be found in a street corner in Tudu and not a bank?
We understand the propaganda dividend of such interventions in the foreign exchange situation. The government through such so-called stability of the Cedi is able to boast of achieving its manifesto pledge of doing better with the economy. Really? At a cost to the future progress of the economy. In any case, for how long can it be sustained?
We have noticed how much efforts have been put in by the NDC government to rubbish the positive outcomes of the economic initiatives of its predecessors.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Finance Minister, is reported to have described the Gold-for-Oil programme, one of such initiatives, as non-existent.
Dr. Zakari Mumuni, the First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, had good reason to laud the domestic gold purchasing initiative of the previous government as championed by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The principal dividend of the initiative is the remarkable hundred percent increase of the gold reserves of the bank over a period of five years from a paltry stock of 8.74 tonnes to a relatively whopping 34.40 tonnes.
This is the outcome of a vision implemented through deliberate and steadfast effort by a visionary.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, in his usual propaganda, denied that the Gold-for-Oil existed let alone achieve for the country any dividend.
The dividends as pointed out by the First Deputy Governor, in the UK where he was a speaker at a programme, cannot be wished away as the Finance Minister sought to do.